Heather Ainsley
ECB Publishing, Inc.
On Dec 18, 2022, the Monticello Nazarene Church board voted unanimously to grant long-standing member, Samantha Wainright, a local ministerial license. Wainright, who has been a member of the church for many years, pursued the license as an act of answering a calling from God, one that she has felt since her baptism in 2013.
“I have always loved to write, and I have almost 10 years of advocacy and public speaking experience,” says Wainright. “When I was first baptized in 2013, I knew I was being called to use those gifts and experience but I was so not ready to say 'yes.'”
Her hesitation, she says, stemmed from fears about what she would have to give up or miss out on in order to pursue her calling, but over the years, she could no longer deny the pull to become more involved in her church's ministry work. “Finally I learned that I was telling God 'no' and I really didn't have a good reason to. What God offers is far beyond anything the world can offer.” She began to dig into scripture, getting more and more involved, not just within the church, but with the ministerial outreach in her community as well.
When Wainright realized that merely attending church was not enough, she took the steps to become an official member of her church. This allowed her to be voted onto the church board as Steward, where her responsibilities included community outreach and ministry development. Last year, she was voted into the role of board Secretary, where she currently serves, executing administrative church functions as well as maintaining general care and upkeep of the church body and its ongoing ministries. Her personal goal is to become an elder in the Church of the Nazarene and to become ordained.
While specifics vary from church to church and denomination to denomination, for the Nazarene Church, any member can become a minister if they follow the steps and take the time to pursue the requirements. The first step is to become a member of the church, and aside from just attendance, get involved, using your gifts, talents and strengths to help and serve others. If a member is well-involved and still feels pulled to go farther and become a minister, they must then go to the church leadership, and speak to them about their calling and ask them for license. Confirmation from the church leaders signifies that they, too, have witnessed God's calling on your life and agree with your desires to pursue it further. Once you receive you local minister's license, it opens the door for you to start introductory courses that are designed to give you a solid foundation and understanding about the calling you are pursuing. After completion of the courses, you may then apply for licensing through your district, which will open even more opportunities for service.
Wainright encourages those interested to speak to their church leadership about what they feel called to do. “When you make it official with your church organization that you feel called to work in and for the church it really does take it to a new level. There are so many amazing professionals who are excited to mentor you, help you grow, and plug you in to amazing spaces of connectivity and conversation. In my church, we are always looking for ways to serve others and to help connect them to the healing power of Christ. That is an exciting venture to be a part of! When you pursue official channels of ministry you can be a determining factor of these choices and how they are implemented. Instead of being told what's going on you can be a part of designing it!”
“I encourage anyone intrigued at all by this to talk to their church leadership about the specifics and to pray about what God is doing in your life,” she says. “Whenever you pursue a license it is a distinction that you feel God has called you to vocational ministry. Where your job is now tied to ministry, whatever role that may be. Whether through music, missions, administrative supports, or preaching, you feel called to work in and for the church.”
For now, Wainright is diving deep into her studies, although she still makes time to continue serving her church and community in the same capacity. After she obtains a district license, she hopes to begin speaking and teaching regularly.
“We all have a ministry,” she says. “Wherever we are, that's where our ministry is. As Christians, that ministry is to live lives that testify to the goodness of God alive in us. We practice what we believe in our every day lives in order to become living billboards for the power of Christ, and thus invite those who don't know him to know him, and invite those who do know him, to grow in their knowledge and experience. Investigate your calling! Pray about it. When you have peace about it, pursue it! Find a mentor and let someone with experience help you along the way! Get excited about it! God is the master of keeping life interesting. He has so much to be done and the workers are few. When he says 'whom shall I send?' be the one to say 'here I am send me!'”